Chapter 97 After That Meeting

Erend seemed to shake all the Elves in this depressive building. No, actually Erend has shaken up everybody here including his three human companions.

Erend had just challenged an Elf Prince. Which is basically the being that has the most power in this place. He was also probably the strongest among all the Elves here.

But Erend showed that he wasn't someone who could be affected by that status.

Erend is like saying: 'To hell with you and your whole position as a prince. If you mess with me, I will go rampage on your precious city.'

Although basically, even Erend himself wasn't sure that he could beat Aerchon.

But after hearing Aerchon's words which were completely unreasonable and only based on his hatred for them, Erend couldn't just sit back and accept everything like Billy, Elis, and Lt. Boartusk.

Erend wouldn't blame them. They knew how powerful the Elves were and trying to challenge them without preparation would only be suicide. But Erend was different from them.

He had already shown how much power he had and what he can do. He can turn into a Dragon and destroy the army of Ogres Kingdom at that time.

Almost all the Elves watched it and of course, Erend got some respect for it. At least the respect that made the Elves hesitate to mess with him.

They didn't know that Erend had just faced a Dark Mage and had quite the hassle. Erend almost ran out of MP.

But with the help of the Slime, Erend was still able to show that he could put up a fight which in the end made Aerchon back off.

The room fell silent for a while after Erend and Aerchon sat back down.

Everyone in the room was still trying to process what had just happened. Is what they hear and see real? Did they just see their Prince retreat?

But then in the midst of it all, Saeldir finally broke the silence.

"Ehem," Saeldir coughed. Then get started. "Okay. Let's get started."

"The four of you were summoned here because there are suspicions about a traitor in this Elf palace. The traitor who destroyed the Magic shield core from the inside so that the army of the Ogres Kingdom could attack into the palace," Saeldir explained.

Erend, Billy, Elis, and Lt. Boartusk have figured out that much. But of course, they didn't say that.

"Why are we under suspicion? We won't gain anything from helping the Ogres," Erend asked.

"Not that we know of," Saeldir replied while looking at Erend.

Erend sighed. Then said. "You know what happened after that. My friends were kidnapped and tortured by those damn Daemons. You think it was part of our plan?"

Saeldir looked at Erend. Then he shifted his gaze to Aerchon for a moment then turned to Erend again. As if to say: 'I can't do anything. He has given orders.'

Erend who understood the meaning of the signal given by Saeldir sighed. Then shook his head a few times.

"I'll get straight to the point," Saeldir said then stood up.

After that, he pressed his palms together. A golden light began to emit from Saeldir's body.

Then the light expanded and formed a dome that encompassed Erend, Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk.

They all turned their heads at this dome. Starting to get anxious because they don't know what Saeldir did to them.

But Erend who was tired of feeling anxious just leaned back on the chair. He let Saeldir do whatever he wanted.

Erend got a little idea of ??what Saeldir was doing. Most likely this golden dome is a kind of Magic that can make them tell the truth.

"When you're in this dome, you can't tell any lies," Saeldir said.

Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk heaved a sigh of relief. They regained their composure knowing that they had done nothing wrong.

They have to tell the truth. Basically, they just have to say what they did and what happened to them a few days ago.

"I'll start asking." Saeldir started his interrogation process.

The interrogation didn't take long. Erend said it all when he was helping the Elves fight when the Ogre army could have crushed them.

Erend also said a little remark that bringing so many of the combat troops to leave the palace was a bad decision.

Saeldir stopped him before Erend could really say his whole mind and wreak havoc again.

After that Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk said something pretty much the same.

They were kidnapped by the Daemon of Calamity who was already preparing to intercept them. They also reveal a bit about the torture they received and how Erend and Saeldir finally saved them.

"You went to Mount Calamity to save them?!" Aerchon asked while looking at Saeldir with disbelieving eyes.

Saeldir sighed. "Yes."

Aerchon was still staring at Saeldir in disbelief. But Saeldir turned his face away from Aerchon and continued the question.

The rest of the question doesn't really matter. The Elves had all the answers they needed.

Saeldir finished casting his honesty dome after Aerchon decided that they were all finished being interrogated.

"I just wanted to ask," Erend said. "Before us, there were already few that you interrogated, or were we the first?"

"You guys are the first," Aerchon answered his question. He looked at Erend with a stern face. His gaze seemed to say that he was not sorry for that.

Erend snorted. "I've guessed so. Can we go now?"

Saeldir looked at Aerchon.

"Yes," Aerchon answered curtly.

Erend, Billy, Elis, and Lt. Boartusk rose from their chairs and walked out of the room.

There's no one stopping them from coming out.

Aurdis looked at Erend's back who was the last to walk outside. Aurdis bit her lip. Her eyes seemed to have a strange dim glint.

Aurdis just kept her mouth shut and sat quietly during the interrogation.

Because she knew that Aerchon wouldn't get any lies that supported his bad thoughts about the four humans.

It was just, Erend did something very admirable in Aurdis' eyes.

"(Alright, we'll move on to the next candidate,)" Saeldir said.

~~~

The four humans walked down the corridor. The corridor is now quite deserted. They guessed that the Elf who usually roamed around the palace was now waiting somewhere to be interrogated.

Erend still couldn't believe that they were being interrogated first than the other Elves. Even though they are the least likely to be traitors.

That would trigger another problem. They would only give the real traitor time to prepare something. A plan that could get them out of this trouble.

"Shall we go back to the Republic?" Billy said, breaking the silence between them.

"Ah, I'm not going with you guys," Elis replied.

All eyes were on her.

"Are you sure?" Billy asked with a frown.

Elis nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. I think I've found my place here."

Elis' smile made them all know that Elis was indeed feeling happy. They didn't know what Aurdis had shown while she was with Elis.

But whatever it was, it was the thing that left an impression on Elis. Something that made Elis' decision to leave the human world even more solid.

Billy actually felt that Elis' decision was not a good thing. Given how the attitude of the Elves to them humans.

But for now, he couldn't bear to say that to Elis. Especially after they experienced the terrible thing in the building earlier.

"Well, as long as you're happy," Billy chose to say that. Elis nodded curtly.

"What about you, Erend? You want to come back?" Billy asked Erend.

"Sure, my family is there," Erend replied. Then he thought: 'I must visit them while I can.'

They seemed to forget the unpleasant incident that happened to them earlier. Or in fact, they choose to forget it all as quickly as possible because they don't want to get caught up in feelings of sadness or anger.

They reached their respective rooms. Elis went to Aurdis' room.

Arriving in the room, Erend immediately said that he wanted to sleep. Billy and Lt. Boartusk who saw him exhausted just let him.

~~~

An Elf was sitting alone in a secluded room. The room was located quite far from the room where he was supposed to be waiting to be interrogated.

The Elf managed to slip among the waiting Elves. But he didn't know how much longer he would be able to hide.

He bit his nails. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead and body. The Elf's legs twitched frantically.

He also felt that his heart was beating very fast. As if his heart could explode at any moment.

"Ahh... Where is he?" The Elf muttered anxiously.

When the Elf was busy with his anxiety, suddenly the door of the room was opened.

The Elf immediately jumped up and took a dagger from inside his white shirt.

But it turned out, the figure who opened the door was the one he had been waiting for.

The Elf sighed. "I've been waiting-"

Before the Elf could finish his sentence, a plume of black smoke shot towards him and covered his head.

~~~